Premonition (by rh2006fan / HeatherF)
Summary: A simple day in town turns into something more than expected, as a looming sense of apprehension strikes the Cartwrights.
Rated: K+ (5,330 words)
One Step Closer #3 – Two Hearts Broken (by MissJudy)
Summary: Adam is back in Boston after a 12 year absence. His career has taken off in a prestigious engineering firm; he’s happily married to his college sweetheart, and he’ll be a featured performer at an upcoming choral production. But the life he’s made is destroyed in three weeks after a beautiful stranger hires him to build a wine cellar. He loses his job; his wife thinks he’s having an affair with the stranger, and he’s forced to participate in a federal crime, knowing that he won’t live through it, but hopes to stay alive long enough to protect the people he loves.
Rated: T WC 28,000
One Step Closer Series, links to all the stories within the series included.
One Shot (by rh2006fan / HeatherF)
Summary: A normal trip to the saloon turns tragic. I wrote this back in the summer, you may need some tissues with this too… Warning: Character death
Rated: T (1,450 words)
One Step Closer #2 – Til Death Do We Part (by MissJudy)
Summary: Adam’s getting married! He’s moved to Boston to help his grandfather, and has begun to build a good life there, including an engagement to the girl he fell in love with during college. Their wedding is set to coincide with a unexpected visit from Ben Cartwright. All is well until Adam’s fiancee disappears and Ben and his son set out to find her. Adam battles a worsening illness along with the lies of those involved. He must rely on help from those more familiar with the city and at one point despairs as he asks his father why the women who love him…die. Will there be a wedding or will Adam sink further into loneliness and pain as another opportunity for love is torn away.
Rated: T WC 82,700
One Step Closer Series, links to all the stories within the series included.
The Burning Bridge (by MissJudy)
Summary: Adam has never worried about his father’s faith and trust in him. That changes dramamtically after a woman drops an 11 year-old at the Ponderosa, telling Ben that the boy is Adam’s son, conceived before he left for college. After repeated attempts to defend himself against th accusation, Adam leaves home, angry and hurt by his father’s seeming refusal to accept that the woman is lying. Once Adam confronts his accuser, he is forced to look further to find out how he and his family became targets for her ploy, and pays a high price for trying to find the truth in her life of lies.
Rated: T WC 60,000
The Sum of All Sadness (by MissJudy)
Summary: Ben is trying to sleep after laying his son to rest and is visited by memories of a life well lived. In another room, Joe is struggling with similar thoughts as he tries to quiet his mind to sleep. And in a place far removed, Adam receives the news that sends his heart reeling. This is a story about Hoss’s passing, but it is not about death. It’s about a family coming to terms with loss while rejoicing in the man they knew. and figuring out how best to honor the life that was lost.
Rated: K+ WC 9000
We Dance (by MissJudy)
Summary: This was a poem I wrote shortly after Pernell Roberts death, remembering his accomplishments and wonderful character. It’s not sad! Those who love Adam or Pernell or any of his other characters will understand exactly what I’m writing about. Sweet dreams!
Rated: K+ WC 200
Sunny, With a Chance of Rain (by MissJudy)
Summary: A stage crash has killed everyone on board…including Adam Cartwright. While Paul Martin has made a “best guess ID” of the “remains,” and even though Adam’s most personal possessions were found in the wreckage, Ben refuses to believe it is Adam. Hoss and Joe begin a journey of discovery with their father as a mystery develops that includes another man in black, attempts at blackmail and the eventual acceptance of what seems ovious – that Adam is gone. It becomes the story of two families facing the loss of a child and a woman whose care of a deathly ill stranger may restore one of these families to completeness.
Rated: T WC 45,000
Transfigurations (by MissJudy)
Summary: I’ve always wondered how Adam’s life would turn out after he left the Ponderosa. This story takes a look at the later years of his life. He’s had a distinguished career as an educator, philanthropist and businessman, and is “comfortable” with where he is and not looking for more. That changes when he sees a woman fall on the sidewalk in front of him and finds out that 40 years ago, she was his student in Virginia City. While getting to know her again, he comes to realize many things about himself – in particular – that being in love again is wonderful…but never easy.
Rated: K 47,000 words
A Circle of Family #4: The Book of Adam (by MissJudy)
Summary: This is the last story in the Circle of Family saga, but enjoying this one is not dependent on having read the others. Adam has been in Boston for a year and all his careful planning has done him well…until an accident while staying with Abel puts him flat on his back for a few days. It is during this time of infirmity that Marie’s Bible arrives along with letters from home. After reading them, Adam makes a heart-rending decision that leaves his grandfather reeling. This story has its comedic moments along with some sweet takes on Adam’s relationship with Abel and the family he left behind.
Rated: K+ WC 11,400
A Circle of Family Series, links to all the stories within the series included.
A Circle of Family: The Book of Hoss (by MissJudy)
Summary: This is the third of the four stories revolving around Adam’s Bible (the Bible Elizabeth had used when she was young.) The Bible was thought ruined in The Book of Joseph, but was restored in The Book of Ben, and is now ready to be sent to Adam in Boston. Ben tells his middle son that he should write Adam a letter to enclose along with the Bible. But after Hoss has a particularly miserable day tending his sick brother and father, he pens a letter to Adam letting him know exactly how he feels.
It is not necessary to read the other stories to enjoy this one. Each book provides a look at love and lessons learned in the young Cartwright family. Thank you for reading.
Rating: K (6,565 words)
A Circle of Family series, links to all the stories within the series included.
A Circle of Family: The Book of Benjamin (by MissJudy)
ummary: This is the second story in the A Circle of Family saga. Adam’s Bible, nearly destroyed in The Book of Joseph, has been returned in better shape than thought possible. After an thoughtful conversation with Hoss, Ben opens the Bible to the story of David and Goliath and relives a memory from a Sunday in the past when a reenactment of that story went awry. We see a young David (Hoss) smite the powerful Goliath (Adam) with a heavy wooden sword, leading to an interesting exchange between Marie and Ben as they decide how to patch the mighty Philistene’s gaping lip.
Rated: K WC 8300
A Circle of Family Series, links to all the stories within the series included.
A Circle of Family: The Book of Joseph (by MissJudy)
Summary: Days before Adam is scheduled to leave for college, Little Joe “borrows” his older brother’s Bible and leaves it outside in the rain when his attention is drawn elsewhere. The Bible had belonged to Elizabeth and was one of the few tokens Adam had of his mother. We watch as he discovers the seeminly ruined text, and comes to grip with his loss and tries to find forgiveness. This is the first of a four part story of family love, sweet memories and the Cartwright’s way of living life to its fullest.
Rated: K WC 1800
A Circle of Family Series, links to all the stories within the series included.
It’s Only a Year – The Final Trial – A Lesson in Mettle #5 (by MissJudy)
Summary: The final episode of the prequel series, It’s Just a Year. Adam has remained home for a year longer than he’d planned before heading for college. In that time, he’s been hazed, poisoned, almost killed and now we find him healthy and camping with Hoss for a final brother’s weekend before leaving for Boston. The idyllic time takes a ominous turn when Adam realizes that someone’s been watching their camp and must soon face his worst fears again and save his brother from the same fate. As with all theses stories, this can be read without reading the others first. This concluding episode brings the two oldest Cartwright boys together for some defining moments.
Rated: K+ WC 17,000
It’s Only a Year Series, links to all the stories within the series included.
It’s Only a Year – The Quiet of Uncertainty – A Lesson in Hope #4 (by MissJudy)
Summary: 17 year-old Adam has been in his first gunfight and although his wound seemed minor, it worsened as he continued to work, until he lost so much blood that he was near death. We now find out what happerned that night and who helps to heal a family wrought with sadness, guilt and decisions. there is no need to read the previous stories to enjoy this one. A young Abigail Jones makes her first appearance and Hop Sing makes a friend.
Rated: K+ 15,000
It’s Only a Year Series, links to all the stories within the series included.